Thank you everyone for those who reviewed! I'm so glad you all like the story as much as I do! :D And oh, one of my lovely reviewers reminded me that I have yet to give out plushies! DX DX DX how could I forget that?

Wingbreeze: yeah, Silverkit needs to learn how to not let her temper and curiosity get the best of her…anyway, thanks for reviewing! Which plushie would you like?

Guest (Honeyshine): you know, you're the only person who realized that this is loosely based off of the Divergent series. (I love that series by the way) Congratulations! I was wondering if anyone was going to figure it out ;) just for that and the awesome review you left AND the fact that you reminded me of the plushies, you can have three! Which ones would you like?

Silverstorm13: here's the next chapter, and I love your pen-name by the way! Which plushie do you want?

Whispered Nightmares: O.O wow, thank you so much! And yeah, I have a bad habit of not rereading every chapter before I post them and so I don't realize the grammar and spelling errors until AFTER I post it XD XD anyway, just for your awesome review, which plushie would you like dear?

Smigle Loco: Lol thanks :P plushie?

Anonymous: why thank you random person I don't know the name of! :) le plushie perhaps?

Born of True Destiny: Well, here's the chapter you've been waiting for! Which plushie would you prefer?

*checks reviews* and that's it :D remember to tell me which plushie you want! Now, onto the story!

Silverkit hissed in annoyance as her paws sunk into the soggy ground, the dirt all muddy from a tiny pool of water that had probably been there since it last rained. The tips of her belly fur were splattered with the brown gunk and she kept having to stop and flick off the mud from between her paws. She was learning the hard way that the ground in BrokenClan territory was unpredictable and that a cat had to keep a close eye of where they put their paws, less they end up like her.

"Come on, Silverkit!" Runningkit teased from where he and the others stood on solid ground. "What's taking you so long?"

Silverkit ignored his taunting and stomped through the mud, giving up on any attempt to keep herself clean. If they wanted me to look presentable, then they shouldn't have allowed me to walk over here in the first place, she grumbled silently. After a few more moments of hopping from one paw to the other, she finally dragged herself out of the wet dirt onto hard, compact ground.

"Are you done investigating?" Skywhisper asked, her eyes narrowed as she took in her daughter's dirty paws and brown belly fur. "We should've been at the camp by now."

Silverkit looked away, feeling her ears heat up with embarrassment. Why did it seem like it was always her fault when something didn't go as planned? She followed her mother meekly, glaring at the reeds that were indeed, as Ryefeather had said, everywhere.

They looked strange to her, unnatural after all her moons in the pine forest where the only plants were shrubs and bushes. The long spindly stems reminded her of a spider she'd come across once and she couldn't help but imagine that they were waving her way, beckoning her forward into the unknown and jeering that she would never make it.

Or maybe it was just her anxiety-wired mind imagining things.

"Are you okay?" Ivykit murmured in concern from right behind her. "You're shaking."

Silverkit forced her paws to stop trembling and waved her tail casually. "I'm fine." She could tell that her friend didn't believe her but she didn't care. At the moment, her heart was pounding in her chest and butterflies had taken flight in her stomach at the looming prospect of Initiation that got ever closer with each pawstep.

To distract herself, she scanned the area around them and with a jolt she realized that there were hardly any trees surrounding them. She felt exposed without the cover of the leaves and she prayed that there would at least be one oak tree to remind her of home.

Finally, after what seemed like seasons of walking, Skywhisper slowed down and held up her tail for the others to halt. Silverkit and the others crowded around the silver tabby and she craned her neck to see what had stopped her mother. Or rather, who had stopped her.

Standing in front of them was a huge tomcat whose dark brown pelt was covered in scars and his tail was wrapped around his large paws. Flanking him were two others and Silverkit's wide eyes were immediately pulled to the larger one.

His golden fur was sleek and shiny but that's where the attractiveness stopped. His left ear was completely shredded and one of his fangs was twisted gruesomely, hanging out of the side of his mouth even though his jaws were closed. Silverkit's gaze traveled up until she met his cold blue eyes and realized that he was looking straight at her. His icy eyes were hard and held no warmth that she could find. She abruptly dropped her gaze as a drop of fear skittered down the length of her spine.

Trying to push thoughts of the intimidating tom away, Silverkit turned to look at the last one who happened to be the only she-cat. She let out a small sigh of relief when she noticed that this cat had none of the scars or horrible markings as the other two did. In fact, the she-cat looked absolutely normal. Her solid dark gray pelt was only broken by her snowy white tail-tip and her green eyes were guarded but held a certain warmth that the golden tom's didn't have.

Silverkit was startled out of her thoughts when Skywhisper spoke. "Greetings, Ceaderstar," she meowed, dipping her head respectfully to the heavily scarred dark furred tom.

"Skywhisper, Ryefeather, Swiftpetal," Ceaderstar replied in a deep voice. "It's good to have you back after so long."

Ryefeather nodded. "We're glad to be back," she answered, her blue eyes blank and giving nothing away.

Silverkit shifted closer to Ivykit and her movement caught Ceaderstar's attention. His yellow eyes snapped to where she stood in between Ivykit and Smokekit and he let out a purr. "And I see you have all given birth to a bunch of fine, healthy kits. Would you please introduce me to them?"

It was a command hidden in the form of a question and the fur on Silverkit's shoulders began to rise. Was this cat used to ordering others around? She opened her mouth to speak but Skywhisper's tail touched her flank and she knew her mother was warning her to be quiet.

"This is my daughter, Silverkit," Skywhisper told him. She pointed to Smokekit and Foxkit. "These are Smokekit and Foxkit, sons of Swiftpetal." She finished with the last three. "And these are Runningkit, Ivykit, and Nettlekit, kits of Ryefeather."

Ceaderstar assessed all of them and Silverkit tried not to fidget when his eyes lingered on her for a moment before moving on. She knew he had noticed the way she'd opened her mouth, ready to snap at him. "Greetings young ones. I am Ceaderstar, leader of BrokenClan, and this is Sunfang," he announced, gesturing to the golden tom. "And this is Dovestone." He waved his tail towards the dark gray she-cat who nodded once.

"I know you're all probably eager to meet the rest of your Clanmates, but first you must all become Initiates and get your new names, understand?" He waited until all the kits had nodded before continuing, "After you get your Initiate names, you will follow me to the camp where you will be introduced to everyone else. Since this is your first day of becoming an Initiate, the only things you will be learning today are the rules of the warrior Code and the things you are forbidden to do during Initiation. Any questions?"

Even Silverkit had the common sense to stay silent.

Ceaderstar waited a moment before nodding. "Very well. Now it is time for you to get your new names. All of you step forward."

The six kits broke away from the group and padded forward until they all stood together in a semi crooked line before the three cats. Ivykit trembled against Silverkit and the gray tabby pressed hard against her, wanting to reassure her friend that everything would be okay even though she knew it wouldn't be.

Ceaderstar lifted his muzzle to the sky and began in a loud voice that resonated into her very bones, "Spirits of the fallen, I call upon you to look down on us on this wondrous day that signifies that BrokenClan can overcome everything and will continue to thrive. Now is the time for these six cats to become Initiates and learn the ways of your noble Code. I ask that you watch over them as they train with each other in the next six moons and then become Followers."

Silverkit swallowed hard. Ceaderstar's words sent a chill through her when he mentioned that they would all become Followers. Liar.

The brown tom waved his tail. "Foxkit, step forward."

The ginger tabby tom's amber eyes grew wider and he scrambled out of the line to stand before the BrokenClan leader. His tail was twitching excitedly back and forth and Silverkit felt a pang of unease. Foxkit was oblivious to the fact that he was taking part of something that had a very high chance of not ending well. But she couldn't do anything, seeing as she wasn't allowed to tell anyone about what her mother had said.

"From this day forward and until you prove that you have what it takes to become a Follower of BrokenClan, you will be known as Foxpaw." Ceaderstar touched his muzzle to Foxpaw's head for a moment before pulling back. Foxpaw stood there for a heartbeat as if he couldn't believe what had happened before stammering a thank you and backing away to the sidelines.

"Smokekit, step forward."

And so it continued until Smokekit became Smokepaw, Nettlekit became Nettlepaw, and Ivykit became Ivypaw. Soon, it was only Silverkit and Runningkit left standing together; the new Initiates were crouched by Sunfang and Dovestone and the queens hadn't moved from where they sat.

Ceaderstar's yellow eyes flashed from one kit to the other before he finally commanded, "Runningkit, step forward."

Silverkit watched as the cream and brown tabby stalked forward, his head held high and his eyes showing no sign of the nervousness that all the others had. His long legs took him to the leader in only two strides, where he halted and gazed at the scarred tom.

"From this day forward and until you prove that you have what it takes to become a Follower of BrokenClan, you will be known as Runningpaw." Ceaderstar rested his muzzle on Runningpaw's head and the new Initiate dipped his head before padding over to join the others.

"And finally, Silverkit, please step forward."

Silverkit inhaled a shaky breath, and couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the scent the draped over the three cats. The disgusting BrokenClan aroma was as heavy as moss and she hated the fact that she would soon smell as horrible as they did.

She stopped right in front of Ceaderstar, acutely aware of her mud-caked paws and brown belly fur. She hopped no one else would notice.

As if right on cue, however, Sunfang chose that moment to finally speak. "Why are you all dirty?" he growled, his tone accusing. She glanced at him in shock and found tried not to stare at the way his twisted tooth moved jaggedly when he talked.

"I was walking and accidentally stepped in mud," Silverkit responded, lifting her pale eyes to meet his dark blue ones.

"Accidentally, huh?" he repeated, skepticism etched all over his gruesome features. "Were you not watching where you put you paws? You do know what mud looks don't you?"

Silverkit narrowed her eyes, her fur starting to bristle. She knew that he was just egging her on, trying to get a reaction out of her, and she could feel Skywhisper's gaze searing into her pelt from behind. She could almost hear her mother's warning: Control yourself. But Silverkit had never been good at keeping her mouth shut.

"Of course I know what it is!" she retorted. "How else do you think I could identify what I'd stepped in? This may surprise you but BrokenClan isn't the only territory that gets rain which, as I hope you know, causes mud."

"Silverkit!" Skywhisper reprimanded harshly. "Hold your tongue!"

Silverkit's ears drew back flat against her head and she gritted her teeth as her fur erupted into flames. She hung her head, ashamed that she'd snapped at an older cat. It didn't matter that Sunfang was probably a fox-heart; he was her elder and she needed to respect that, if anything.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Ah, you have the spirit of a warrior," Ceaderstar meowed, his yellow eyes expressionless so that she couldn't tell if he meant that in a good way or a bad way. "You are impulsive and you will need to learn to control yourself if you plan on making it to a Follower, is that understood?"

Silverkit nodded dejectedly, digging her claws into the ground to stop her impulsive self from adding a few more scars to the tom's muzzle.

"Then back to what you are here for. From this day forward and until you prove that you have what it takes to become a Follower of BrokenClan, you will be known as Silverpaw." He leaned forward and placed his muzzle on her head. She struggled not to choke on the horrible smell and she was incredibly grateful when he pulled away and she could join her friends.

Silverpaw slid up in her usual place beside Ivypaw who glanced at her worriedly. "You really shouldn't have talked back to Sunfang like that," she whispered under her breath so no one else could hear. "It was a dumb move."

"You don't think I know that?" she hissed.

Ivypaw opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Ceaderstar. "Now that you have all officially become Initiates, it's time that you meet the rest of your Clanmates. Follow me." He flicked his tail before spinning around and heading in what Silverpaw assumed was the direction of the camp.

Sunfang and Dovestone flanked him while the Initiates hurried to catch up. Skywhisper, Ryefeather, and Swiftpetal brought up the rear and they were all silent as they were led onto a winding path that seemed to stretch on forever.

Silverpaw tried to take in her surroundings so that she could learn her way around the territory, but everything-even the stupid mud on her paws-was just so unfamiliar to her that she quickly gave up. She felt a brush of fur on her left and glanced up to find Runningpaw padding beside her.

"You do know that Sunfang was just trying to get a rise out of you, right?" he questioned in a voice so quiet she could barely hear it.

"Yes and thank you for implying how stupid I am to have disrespected him," she spat. She honestly didn't need Runningpaw of all cats trying to start up a conversation at the moment.

"Stop putting words in my mouth," he hissed, narrowing his dark green eyes at her. "I was just going to warn you to be careful about what you say. We're not kits anymore, you know."

Silverpaw rolled her eyes. "I really don't want or need your concern, Runningpaw. As you just said I'm not a kit anymore. I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

"Forget it," Runningpaw mumbled, scowling. "I don't even know why I try."

"That makes two of us," she stated flatly. They descended once more into silence as Ceaderstar abruptly stopped in front of a huge bed of reeds with a rotted, hollow tree trunk sticking from out of it.

"This is the entrance to the camp," he announced, jerking his head to indicate the huge log. "Since this is your first time entering it, you six will be the first to go through and then we will follow. So, who's up?"

Silverpaw looked around at her five friends and spotted Nettlepaw staring with wide, scared eyes at the tree while Foxpaw and Smokepaw gazed at their paws. Ivypaw was nearly hyperventilating and Runningpaw was giving his chest fur a couple of licks to stall himself.

The gray tabby turned her attention to the bed of spider-like reeds and the intimidating tree trunk. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and she told herself to calm down. It was only a tree for StarClan's sake! But the more she thought about, the more she recognized that it was all just based on perspective. As soon as she emerged from the other side of the trunk, her Initiation would begin and there would be no turning back; but if she didn't walk through it, then there would be nowhere she could go and then there was no doubt she'd never become a Follower.

Silverpaw's fur itched uncomfortably and she glanced around to find Skywhisper looking at her with steady green eyes. Her mother's gaze was tender and she felt warmth wash away the chill that had been in her heart since she had first woken up that morning. Skywhisper believed in her, so that means she just had to believe in herself.

Not waiting a moment longer in case she lost her nerve, Silverpaw broke away from the other Initiates and headed towards the entrance of the tree trunk. She hesitated only a heartbeat before she shoved her way into the darkness and began to make her way through.

The unfamiliar dead bark felt strange under her paws and her whiskers caressed the sides of the tree as she blindly moved forward. She had never been surrounded by something so small and it made her breath hitch. Did this tunnel ever end?

Suddenly, she spotted a circle of light and the quickened her pace, nearly sprinting the last few lengths of the tree. She burst from the darkness and into the rays of sunlight, gasping for breath. She shook her whole body to get rid of the claustrophobic feeling and it took her a minute to notice all the cats staring at her.

Silverpaw blinked as the faces of a dozen or more cats came into focus. They were all standing around her and yelling with raised voices. She flinched, thinking they were shouting at her, and then figured out that they were actually cheering…for her.

Before she could fully take it in, a flash of silver and white tumbled out of the tunnel and landed with a squeak. Ivypaw ducked her head in mortification and slowly got to her paws. She looked around and her yellow eyes widened as the BrokenClan cats began cheering for her as well.

Ivypaw caught sight of Silverpaw and raced over to her. "We made it!" she exclaimed breathlessly, bouncing on her toes like a kit. "We're finally Initiates!"

Her excitement was contagious and Silverpaw soon found herself praying that the actually training would start soon. She and Ivypaw watched as Runningpaw came barreling out of the tree, soon followed by Nettlepaw, Foxpaw, and Smokepaw. Ceaderstar and the others were close behind and before she knew it, the cheering had died down and the BrokenClan leader was now taking charge.

He padded across the camp to where a tall tree leaned so far to the left that its long gnarled branches nearly touched the ground. Its roots were almost completely out of the ground, as if it had been savagely ripped from the nurturing soil, and the blackened bark was peeling in an abundance of places. Silverpaw thought it was the saddest thing she'd ever seen.

So she was incredibly stunned when Ceaderstar leapt onto it and started climbing up, unexpectedly agile for such a huge, compact cat. The late afternoon sun shone down on his dark pelt, silhouetting his broad shoulders and illuminating every single one of the many scars that covered his body.

"Cats of BrokenClan!" he called, standing regally on one of the higher branches. "I am pleased to announce on this day that we have six new Initiates that will be training to learn the ways of the Warrior Code. Since they are most likely a bit overwhelmed, I want all of you to try and make this transition as easy as possible for them. Do not be afraid to introduce yourselves to them."

Then, Ceaderstar fell off the tree.

Well, fell wasn't exactly the right word, since that would imply that he'd actually lost his balance; in reality, he simply let go of the branch and shifted his weight so that he plummeted straight towards the ground.

Silverpaw gasped in terror and opened her mouth to scream because surely, no cat could survive a drop that far. But just as she was sucking in a breath, the brown tom twisted deftly in midair and landed on all four paws, only staggering slightly at the impact. He immediately straightened up and padded over to where a smoky gray tabby tom sat a little bit away as if he had not just had a near-death experience.

"W-what…?" Ivypaw spluttered, eyes as big as moons.

Silverpaw shook her head slowly, knowing that her eyes were undoubtedly as huge as her friend's. "I don't know."

"Did he really just…?"

"I think so."

"But how did he…?"

"I have no clue."

"Huh…"

"Yeah."

Runningpaw glanced from Silverpaw to his sister and back again before meowing, "If the two of you are done finishing each other's thoughts, I think Ceaderstar's waiting for us to join him."

Silverpaw blinked and turned her attention to look at the pale tabby tom, noticing that he gave no sign of the disbelief she and Ivypaw felt. His dark green eyes were wide, yes, but they were filled with admiration and…longing?

"You saw that too right?" she asked warily, uncertain all of a sudden.

"Um…yeah, obviously." He shot her a weird look. "I think it's pretty cool. I hope we get to learn how to do that."

Great, now they're all going to be throwing themselves out of trees, she thought, spotting the way Foxpaw was murmuring to Smokepaw with both of their eyes shining in excitement.

"Initiates!" Ceaderstar yowled impatiently, his fur starting to rise. "Are you here to learn or are you here to talk? I don't have time to watch you gossip!"

Silverpaw bristled at his tone, the unfair accusation in his voice that they were already slacking. He had seemed so dignified standing on the gaunt branches of that tree, his eyes sweeping over them proudly, and yet now he simply looked imposing and irritated.

"I guess we better go to him, before we get into even more trouble," Nettlepaw meowed, his left ear once again starting its nervous habit of twitching on its own accord. Out of all of them, Silverpaw knew that he was the most fragile one. His blue eyes were wide with distrust and they shifted over all of their new Clanmates as if he would rather be anyplace else than right there.

I know how you feel, Silverpaw told him silently. Even though she despised the fact that Ceaderstar was practically commanding them to go over to him and that dark, smoky gray cat who sat poised beside him, she had to agree with Nettlepaw.

As Runningpaw enthusiastically led them to where the BrokenClan leader-no, her new leader-was, Silverpaw hung back slightly so that she was beside Nettlepaw. She kept enough distance between them that their fur didn't touch but close enough so that he knew that she was there.

After a heartbeat of silence, she murmured, "It's gonna be okay. We're going to pass Initiation and then we'll be Followers."

Nettlepaw stared at her with those skeptical eyes, quiet for a moment. "You don't know that," he finally responded, even though she could hear how desperately he wanted to believe her.

Silverpaw cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. Maybe she wasn't the only one who had figured out that Initiation would be more than any of them bargained for. "How'd you find out?" she asked, surprised. I thought I was the only one who knew, she thought bitterly, feeling an unexpected flash of envy. She abruptly pushed it away, disgusted with herself. Was she really jealous of not being the only one who knew how horrible the next six moons would be?

Nettlepaw glanced away, scanning the clearing where all of their new Clanmates were sprawled, chatting animatedly or sharing tongues with one another. "It wasn't really that hard," he muttered, lowering his gaze to his paws. "I mean think about it. Every season new kits are born and then become Initiates. If every single one becomes a Follower, the camp should be pretty much overflowing by now.

"I mean sure," he added, "Cat's grow old and die and stuff but when you really stop and think, the number of cats in BrokenClan should be at least three times the size of this!" He savagely jerked his head, gesturing to their Clanmates.

He swung his muzzle back around to face her, his blue eyes fearful and calculating and she wondered how in StarClan she never noticed how observant he was. He lowered his voice and said softly, "So what happens to the rest?"

Silverpaw felt her blood turn to ice and she stared at him with wide, pale blue eyes. She knew the answer to his question or course, had known it since Skywhisper had told her about Sparkpaw (had it really only just been that morning?). She knew what happened to the Initiates that failed Initiation: They were exiled, banished from the Clan and Clan territory to go live by their selves in the unknown land that stretched for miles in every direction. Sent to try and survive on the barren, unpopulated terrain with not an inkling of what horrible creatures were out there, filled with shame and stripped of any honor they once had.

Silverpaw swallowed, struggling to calm her racing heart. "Nettlepaw, it doesn't matter what happens to the ones who fail," she meowed forcefully, trying to convince herself as much as him. "All you have to concentrate on is passing. The ones who don't pass don't matter."

Nettlepaw held her gaze for a moment, his eyes holding a spark of faint amusement as well as sorrow. They looked moons old, as if he had seen terrible things despite only just getting out of kithood that day. "Don't they though?" he murmured, almost inaudible.

Silverpaw broke eye contact and picked up her pace. "No, they don't." She lengthened her stride until she had reached Ceaderstar and the others. Nettlepaw arrived a moment later, once again back to his old twitchy self with no sign of what they had just discussed.

They don't matter, she repeated, over and over again while trying to focus on what Ceaderstar was saying. They don't matter.

But she couldn't help the small shiver that took hold of her and dark feeling of dread that crept on the out skirts of her mind. They don't matter.

Right?

Da-da-da-DA! The end of chapter three! (: review my lovelies! And remember to tell me what plushie you want!